Need advice for mid-range computer

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PaggotStyle

n00b
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Oct 11, 2009
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4
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I do some mild gaming - I want to be able to run old games like Oblivion well, as well as new ones like Age of Conan or Dragon Age: Origins at a decent rate. I'm an IT student so I do some coding (c++, c#, action script) and also some visual development stuff (photoshop, flash, maya)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I'm shooting for $500 but am willing to go up $600 if necessary
3) Where do you live?
Upstate New York
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, RAM, motherboard, power supply, hard drive, video card, and monitor
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I have a handmedown case (with broken power supply, see above), as well as keyboard and mouse
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Currently I'm looking at a 19" widescreen
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
As soon as possible, preferably by the end of the month- my laptop is about die!
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
None really, firewire could be nice
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes, I get one free from my college


This is the list I have so far (links to newegg):
Hard Drive: WD SATA 500gb 3gb/s..............http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136358
Monitor: Acer 19" widescreen......................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009151
Videocard: PNY geforce 9500 gt..................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133230
Power Supply: antec earthwatts 430W.........http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371006
RAM: OCZ 2x2gb ddr2 1066.......................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227298
Motherboard: Asus lga775...........................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131394
Processor: core 2 duo 2.93GHz...................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115056

Any advice/ideas appreciated, thank you!
 
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Your build is not that good for the money especially the video card, CPU, mobo, and RAM. $73 for DDR2 RAM? Forget that.

I'd go with this build instead:
$189 - AMD Phenom II X3 720 CPU + Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P AMD 770 Motherboard Combo
$71 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$60 - Asus EN9600GSO/DI/512MD3/V2 GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB PCI-E 2.0 Video Card
$55 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 7200RPm SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$50 - Corsair 400CX 400W PSU
$110 - Acer X193Wb Black 19" DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
----
Total: $535 plus tax and shipping

Key differences between the above build and yours:
- Faster hard drive
- Faster video card
- Slightly faster and better multi-tasking CPU
- Slightly better quality PSU
- Slightly better CPU upgrade path
- Motherboard with 4 RAM slots for 8GB of RAM support someday and firewire
- $2 cheaper :D
 
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I was saying to myself before I click the CPU...

"Please don't let it be LGA 775... Please don't let it be LGA 775"...

facepalm.jpg
 
There is nothing wrong with LGA775. It's EOL...ish (wierd release dates for new Celerons), but it's still a viable socket.
 
I agree with Danny. Though, I have no clue what parts you chose, since you didn't list them out, I still agree with Danny, lol.
 
jeremyshaw said:
There is nothing wrong with LGA775. It's EOL...ish (wierd release dates for new Celerons), but it's still a viable socket.
Click to expand...

Thats the problem. It is "EOL".

For budget builds theres no niche for LGA 775 at all. You pay more and you get less.

It's AM2+/AM3 or i5/i7 now a days.
 
DTN107 said:
Thats the problem. It is "EOL".

For budget builds theres no niche for LGA 775 at all. You pay more and you get less.

It's AM2+/AM3 or i5/i7 now a days. Your only burning money if your building a new platform off of LGA 775.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. For some weird reason, Intel's Celeron release got me thinking the wrong way...

yeah, with no new lga775 'highend' chips, it isn't really upgradeable down the line.
 
Thanks for all the input, I have little to no idea how this stuff works, but as far as I and my more hardware-savvy buddies can tell, Danny's build is real nice so I'm going with it. Thanks, buddy.
 
So I got all the parts, put it all together, and now I'm having some weird problems. Most of the time when I turn on the power supply it does the little half-start up test, but then when I hit the power button it won't turn on. Sometimes, it will turn on and sometimes nothing happens. I started to install windows 7 but my computer randomly rebooted in the middle of it (just after the real installing started), and continues to restart whenever it actually turns on. Any ideas why this might be happening?
 
I know this sounds weird but has happen before...

but did you install the motherboard with the stand-offs?

 
I'm not completely sure. It's a used, older case, and the motherboard didn't come with any. Looking at it, it doesn't look like they're on there... There are, however, little raised bumps where the screws are... does that serve the same purpose?
 
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The screws usually come with the case not the motherboard.

Raised bumps will work. I see those often in the Rosewill cases.

Well here is some random things I can think of you should check:

1) All connectors and cables

2) Memory sticks. Make sure they are fully down.

3) Do the power supply paper clip test.
 
Paper clip?

Price aside the only thing LGA775 can't do is get a new processor. The current ones could easily handle mild gaming, coding, and shop. Though this is the home of upgrade zealots and AMD really owns sub-$100 anything.
 
@ singe_101
paper clip to bridge the pin 4 (green) on the ATX power connector to any ground (black).

Current Athlon2 CPUs are better performing CPU than current Dual Core Pentiums.
 
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